


Flying High Through Blue Skies

by Ren_Dreamt_The_Cosmos



Series: Sanders Sides AUs [4]
Category: Sanders Sides, Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: Airplane Crashes, Airplanes, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Aviation, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Animal Death, Aviation, Blood and Injury, CPR, Crash Landing, Death, Disasters, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt, Hurt Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Hurt Morality | Patton Sanders, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Major Character Injury, Off-screen death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Possible Character Death, Read at Your Own Risk, Rescue, Triggers, Wilderness, Wilderness Survival, possibly triggering content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 06:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16634519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ren_Dreamt_The_Cosmos/pseuds/Ren_Dreamt_The_Cosmos
Summary: [Sanders Sides Modern/Aviation AU] Join Virgil, Patton, Roman, and Logan on their adventures as pilots. (and possibly through their hearts.) When on a casual flight, disaster strikes, landing Patton and Virgil in a sticky situation. Will they be alright, or will things take a more... drastic turn, leaving Logan and Roman having to save them?《◇》Don't worry about being confused by plane/aviation terminology. This AU will take place on the ground for the most part, but some scenes will take place in the cockpit, and for those scenes, I'll include definitions and meanings of things for those that are interested![Edit 3/17/2019]Fanfic Completed and all chapters updated with spelling/grammatical fixes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Authors note-
> 
> The beginning of this chapter won't be too interesting, it's just banter and build up to a bigger scene that'll happen later in the chapter so don't worry, it won't always be this boring!
> 
> If you have any questions/Inquiries about this chapter/aviation terms, leave me a comment and I'll try to help ya out!
> 
> Planes-
> 
> Cessna 172 Skyhawk - small personal airplane flown by Virgil and Patton
> 
> Viking 400S - seaplane flown by Roman and Logan.
> 
> Have fun reading this, and please please please leave a comment! Criticism or otherwise, I'll take anything! Really helps my inspiration!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a professional, and the correctness of this chapter is very debatable. But it's fiction so ah well!
> 
> Possibly triggering content. Read at your own risk. Very intense action scenes. Beware ♡
> 
> Drama filled chapter! ~ ♡
> 
> Pretty quick paced but I'm too lazy to write any more.

《◇》

Virgil shouldered his bag, leaning down to tie the laces on his shoes, brushing his fringe out of his eyes.

"Virgillllll, are you ready?" Virgil sighed, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he heard the excited whine of his roommate (and Co-pilot) from the next room.

"Almost Patton! Do you have the keys? Double check to be sure! You're always so forgetful!" Virgil called to his friend, snickering slightly as he pulled his laces tight, straightening back up.

"What? I'm not that forgetful!" Virgil walked into the living room as his roommate protested.

"One word Patton, one word." Virgil paused. "Spaghetti."

"THAT WAS ONE TIME, IT HAPPENED ONCE!" Patton moaned, before laughing. "And it wasn't all my fault! Roman was supposed to grab some too!" Patton huffed. At the mention of his name, a certain brown haired man poked his head into the living room.

"What was I supposed to do? What's happening?" Roman questioned, a smirk in place on his face as he strolled into the room, hands casually such in his pockets.

"We were just talking about that one time with the spaghetti and that professo-" Virgil replied, before being cut off with a shriek.

"VIRGILLLLL!" Roman whined "We don't talk about that incident. I was cleaning marinara sauce out of my hair for weeks!" Roman shook his head, smiling. "So anyway, what are you guys up too?"

"Well, we're just going on a quick flight with the Cessna, gonna practice some touch and goes and review our emergency checklist to make sure we're still in touch. What about you and Logan?" Virgil questioned.

"Oh, have fun! Logan and I are going to wash the Viking today, probably do some checkups. Our last water landing was pretty rough and I want to make sure she's in tip-top shape." Roman answered. "She's actually in the hangar right now, would you mind if Logan and I caught a ride there from you guys?"

"Oh, sure! We're leaving right now actually, are you guys ready to go?" Patton nodded enthusiastically at Roman.

"Oh yeah, All of the gear is already in the hangar. Let me let Logan know we're leaving and we'll be good to go! Meet you out in the car?" Roman turned, talking over his shoulder as he headed down the hallway to Logan room.

"Okay, meet you out there. Lock up when you're done." Virgil replied, before grabbing his keychain off the hook next to the door and turning the door handle to walk out into the cooler air of the hallway of the apartment building. Virgil turned to close the door as Patton came out, and proceeded to walk out and down the stairs and through the lobby, jogging slightly.

As they reached the car, Patton looped around to sit in the driver's seat, Virgil tossing the keys across the roof of the car for him to catch as he headed for the passenger.

"Hey! Why do I have to sit in the back?" Roman wailed as he and Logan exited the apartment building.

"We were here first Slow-pokes!" Patton stuck his tongue out as Roman opened the back doors to let him and Logan get in. "And we're giving you a ride, so the hitchhikers sit in the back!" Virgil laughed as Patton talked to the annoyed man.

"Ugh, finnnnne." Roman rolled his eyes, drawing out the word as he buckled his seat belt. "Let's go!"

Patton glanced around to make sure everyone had their seat belts fastened and then turned the key and they were on their way.

《◇》

\- Ren

Patton yawned as he ripped open his fruit snack package, tucking the scrap of plastic into his pocket and holding the fruit snacks in his hand. Patton lazily popped one in his mouth before turning to Virgil.

"You want a fruit snack Virge?" Patton offered to his friend.

"Sure, pass an orange one," Virgil replied, taking a hand off the yoke to hold it next to Patton's, who dropped an orange fruit snack in his hand. Virgil popped it on his mouth an chewed before swallowing. "Thanks Pat. Bringing those dozens of fruit snacks wasn't a bad idea after all."

"See!! Didn't forget anything, and brought snacks! I'm on a roll today!" Patton chuckled. "So we about ready to head back to the airport? It's starting to get pretty cloudy but we should be able to make it back and perform a few touch and goes before we have to put her back in the hangar." Patton questioned while twisting to reach into the back seat, grabbing his cell phone.

Patton turned, about to turn on some music and sit back when he heard Virgil intake a breath.

"Fuck." Patton blinked, now worried. Virgil never cursed in front of him. "Virge... what-" Pattons question was cut off as the plane shook violently.

"Patton. Secure the bags and make sure everything's out away. We've got an issue." Virgil's voice was tense, encouraging Patton to quickly glance over the plane, quickly sliding his phone into a pocket in his bag, zipping it back up.

"Virgil, what's happening?" Patton twisted back to look at his friend.

"We're almost out of fuel," Virgil replied, gaze fixed on a spot on the cockpit window. "We're not gonna make it back to the airport."

"What?? But we filled up with fuel back at the airport... we shouldn't already be empty! It's barely been an hour!" Patton protested, even though a quick glance at the dashboard confirmed Virgils statement. "Are there any other airports we can land at?"

"Patton! We're flying over the middle of the effing forest! There's not an airport for miles!" Virgil snapped at Patton.

"..." Patton blinked, shocked at the anger in Virgils voice. "Okay.." Patton murmured, turning away to tap at his IPad, analyzing the surrounding terrain, looking for a suitable area for them to put the Cessna down.

"Oh hell. Patton... Patton, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." Virgil quietly apologized to his friend. "I just..."

"It's alright Virgil. Let's just concentrate on landing safely." Patton muttered.

"Okay." Virgil agreed, pulling up the emergency checklist on his IPad, waiting for Patton to do the same.

"Airspeed 65, flaps down." Virgil fiddled with the yoke and glanced out the right window.

"Check," Patton confirmed.

"Mixture, Idle cut off" Said Virgil.

"Check" Patton nodded.

"Fuel Selectors off" Virgil reached forward and flicked a switch.

"Check" Patton confirmed.

"Magnetos off," Virgil stated.

"...Check." Patton confirmed after flipping a switch on the dashboard.

"Flaps as-" Virgils voice was drowned out as the plane gave a tremendous rumble, the engine gave a choking noise and then...

Silence.

"Sh--. Patton check the rest, I'll try to glide as long as possible and try to find a good place to land."

"Roger." Patton swiftly nodded and tapped on his IPad, muttering to himself quietly as he scrolled through the emergency checklist, glancing around at points and fiddling with the dashboard to change certain settings.

"Patton." Virgils voice came through the headset, causing him to glance up.

"Yeah? We alright?" Patton questioned.

"Patton, there's no flat land. It's all trees or rocks. The only place I could land is..." Virgil paused, anxiously glancing over the cockpit to gaze at the ground, hundreds of miles below them. "There's a lake, smooth, but it stretches for a while. We might be able to lightly skim the surface and slow down enough to make it to the shallows."

"The lake? Virgil, the Cessna isn't built for water landings..." Patton replied cautiously. "But if it's our only option... let's hope for the best."

"Gotcha," Virgil replied, angling the yoke to send the gliding plane into a slow circle down, angling to hit the lake straight on.

"Virgil..." Patton began, before pausing. "If this all goes wrong, I want you to know that I..."

"Patton, I know." Virgil tightened his grip on the yoke, knuckles whitening, gaze fixed on the lake that was below them, swiftly approaching. "It's been an honor to explore the skies with you and to be your friend."

"Likewise." Patton quietly replied, before sitting up straight, securing his seat belt with the lab belt around his hips and the belt running from his hip to opposite shoulder, and quickly taking off his eyeglasses and twisting to slip them into a pocket on the side of his backpack.

"Tell me when to brace, I'll be ready." Patton turned to gaze out the window as the ground steadily got closer and closer.

It was so close that Patton could see the tips of the trees in extreme detail.

It was almost time.

Patton clenched his hands into fists, trying to calm his heart rate, breathing deeply.

"Patton, brace! It's gonna be rough!" Virgil cried.

Patton crossed his arms across his chest, making an "X" and clutching each shoulder tightly with each hand, head flat against the seat and eyes straight ahead.

Patton saw the smooth crystal clear water of the lake rise up to meet the plane.

Deep Breathes.

The wind whistled past the plane.

Deep Breathes.

Virgil was muttering under his breath.

Deep Brea-

Patton was thrown forward against his seat belt as the plane touched the water, and as Pattons head whipped sideways, he saw Virgil, not in the brace permission, be whipped forward and strike his head against the yoke.

"Virgil!" Patton cried, unbuckling his seat belt as the plane slowed, momentarily floating on the surface of the water. But Patton knew that it wouldn't stay like that for long. Patton saw Virgil stir and swiftly reached over and unbuckled Virgils seat belt. By that point, Virgil was alert and looking about. "Go, go! Get out!" Patton cried, waiting for Virgil to throw open his door, before opening his and proceeding to start to climb out.

The water rose rapidly, quickly entering through the open doors and filling the plane, causing it to sink quicker. Patton saw Virgil treading water beside the plane and made to join him.

Patton tried to swim over to Virgil, but something pulled him back.

Patton felt hysteria build in his chest as he glanced through the clear water.

His foot was stuck.

The seat belt of his seat had managed to get stuck on his shoes, and his flailing had caused it to wrap even tighter around it.

"V-Virgil!" Patron cried, desperately treading water.

"Patton! Get away from the plane! We need to get to shore!" Virgil shouted as he treaded water.

"Virgil I can't I'm-" Patton took a breath as a small wave passed over his head. "Stuck!" Patton cried as the wave passed, taking a final gulp of air, a final look at Virgils quickly paling face, before being pulled under the surface of the water.

It was strangely beautiful. The plane was slowly drifting downwards towards the bottom of the lake, around fifteen feet below the surface. Patton looked up through the water to see Virgil diving for him, passing him to desperately claw at the belt wrapped around his foot, trying to unravel it. After a few moments, Virgil was forced to let go and go up for air. As he returned, Virgil stretched out a hand to Patton, eyes imploring him to stay strong.

Patton stretched his hand up, trying to grasp onto Virgils outstretched hand, arms flailing, free foot kicking desperately through the water.

He couldn't do it. He wasn't going to make it.

Pattons lungs screamed for air, but he couldn't get a single breath.

Pattons vision flashed, his lungs burned.

Patton felt his arms begin to fall, muscles giving up, vision fading.

Patton dimly registered the feeling of a touch.

Hands on his. Hand on his neck. Someone diving past him to tear at the belt tangled around his foot.

Virgil.

Virgil was trying to save him.

Patton had to get Virgil to the surface.

Patton couldn't let Virgil die trying to save him.

Pattons final thoughts were about Virgil before his mouth finally opened in a desperate wish for air, water rushing in, pouring down his throat and into his lungs.

And Patton thought no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hurt the bois...
> 
> I'm not too happy with it, but I got it done.
> 
> Comment if you liked it? I get depressed when nobody tells me they like it haha :')
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note-
> 
> Both planes are parked in the same hangar, just making sure that didn't confuse anybody. Makes it cheaper and easier to work on them. :smile:  
> If you have any questions about Aviation terms/procedures in this chapter, hit me up!
> 
> While I have not attended flight school or any formal flight lessons, I am an avid fan of aviation that hopes to be a pilot in the future. If I got anything wrong, I apologize. YouTube, Google, and AOPA have been my best friends for this chapter but they may be incorrect. (Also if you want to watch an aviation YouTuber, one that won't bore you to death or confuse you, is Aviation101! Josh Flowers runs the channel and he's amazing!! :smile: )
> 
> Enjoy this longer chapter, 1371 words not counting the author notes. :)  
> \- Ren

《◇》

Patton lightly pushed on the brake, slowing the car as the airports' gates came into view. Patton turned off of the highway and rolled up next to the guard window. After signing the group in and having a few seconds of light-hearted banter with the guard the group was cleared to proceed. Patton drove the car up next to their hangar, parking it in front of the doors and unbuckling his seat belt, before twisting around to look at his fellow passengers.

"Well, we're here! Hop on out kiddos!" Patton chuckled as the group whined.

"Pattton! We're all just a year or two younger than you. That doesn't make us your kids." Logan looked up from his phone screen as he unbuckled and waited for Roman to exit the car. "That's just not a logical nickname." He stated as they unceremoniously climbed out of the vehicle and walked over to unlock their hangar.

"Oh come on, Microsoft Nerd. Let him has his fun. If he's going to be stuck in a plane cockpit with Robert Downer Jr over there, he's gonna need to get some jokes out before they leave" Roman teased, watching how Virgil bristled and glared at him. "Come on Virgil! It was just a joke! Forgive me?" Roman blinked, trying his hardest to look like a forlorn puppy that had just been kicked out to the curb, turning his puppy eyes to loon sadly at Virgil, a fake pout pulling at his lips.

"Ugh fine. And anyway, at least we're flying today. Washing the Viking just doesn't sound like tremendous fun to me..." Virgil sympathetically sighed as Roman protested. "But you guys have fun. See you later!" Virgil then chuckled and proceeded to walk with Patton to the left side of the now-open hangar, to gaze at the beauty of the plane they were going to be flying within a few minutes.

Roman had hopped into the cars driver seat and carefully maneuvered it in between the two planes, carefully parking it near the back of the hangar.

"Car's outta the way! When you guys take the Cessna out, watch the wings!" Roman called, stepping out and shutting the door if the car, before walking over to the Viking. "Don't want it to be like that one time!"

"That wasn't even our fault! Who even parks their truck right outside-" Virgil protested as Roman strolled away laughing as Virgil and Patton jokingly glared at his retreating back.

"Well Virgil, she's still looking to be on tip-top shape. Why don't you see if Roman or Logan need any help while I perform the preflight checks. You did it last time, so I should get in some practice." Patton said as he started to inspect one of the Cessnas wings, a hand lightly trailing along the elevator, feeling and looking for scratches, dents, or any other damage that could affect their flight. A dent or crack that was missed in the pre-flight check could lead to disastrous results. Virgil nodded and left Patton to do his thing, making his way over to the two other men that were setting up buckets, sponges, clothes and connecting hoses to the spigots that were attached to the outside wall of the hangar.

"Do you guys need any help?" Virgil questioned. "Patton has exiled me from the Cessna as he's doing preflight checks."

"Um, I think we're good. You can probably just hang out while waiting for him to finish the checks. Maybe go through your bags, you know how forgetful he is." Roman shook his head as he carefully wiped a cloth along the right propeller of the plane. "But anyway, yeah we're good."

Virgil sighed and nodded, plodding over to the car, grabbing his and Patton's bag, before walking over to the sofa that was situated against the wall of the hangar.

Virgil dumped out his bag first and scanned it.

IPad, charging cables, headset, other miscellaneous accessories. Check.

Kneeboard, rechargeable battery pack, flashlight. Check.

Approach charts and clipboard for all notes and necessary paperwork. Check.

Virgil rummaged through the pile on the floor, picking items up and placing them back in the bag, checking them off as he did so.

Virgil let out a sigh off relief. He was prepared. Virgil then turned to Patton's flight bag and dumped it out.

....

"Patton?" Virgil's voice sounded strangled and high pitched.

"Yeah? What's up?" Came a reply from where the man was lying on thing the ground, checking the belly of their plane.

"Why the absolute hell did a pile of fruit snacks and a small teddy bear just fall out of your flight bag?" Virgil leveled a glare at the two legs that were sticking out from under the Cessna.

"What? I need snacks, and Teddy is just in case I need emotional support or I get to sleep." Patton replied.

"If you need to sleep? Patton, we're not even going to fly for more than a few hours.." Virgil shook his head? "Why do I even try..."

Virgil turned to the other contents of the bag, which had also found their place on the floor. "Well, at least he has everything else he needs..." Virgil sighed and pushed everything back into the bag, piling the fruit snacks and the bear in with a disapproving sigh. "Well, the flight bags are ready. You done with the preflight checks?" Virgil walked up to Patton, both bags slung over his shoulder.

"Yeah! We're ready to fly!" Patton beamed. "Hop in. You're piloting this time right?"

"Yup. Hop in copilot, and let's get going." Virgil threw Patton's bag to him and circled the Cessna to climb into the plane. After getting situated, Virgil opened the cockpit window and hollered out to his other friends. "Roman and Logan, we're departing! Watch the wings!" Virgil paused, waiting for a reply, buckling his seat belt as he waited.

"Don't hit anybody with the wings!" Roman hollered back. "And have fun!" Virgil smiled at that and turned to Patton, who frowned and fondly reached over tugged slightly on Virgil's seat belt, making sure it was secured, giving a nod of approval.

"Okay I'll do the checks, you set up the headsets and turn in the Ipads. Mine is fully charged, yours was at 70% I believe." Virgil twisted in his seat to check the back seat. "Baggage secured... yup" Virgil reached into the back seat to double check the seat belts that he had fastened over his and Patton's bag to keep them secured.

"Virgil, the bags will be fine! They're snug as a bug!" Patton jokingly punched his friend's shoulder

A few minutes later, the checks were completed and they had contacted ATC and were given instructions to proceed to taxi to runway 2R via Alpha.

The plane rumbled to life, and crawled out of the hangar, making a tight turn and proceeding down the row of buildings until they reached the taxiway, and began to pick up speed, before turning onto the runway.

While Virgil concentrated on making sure every part of the plane was functioning properly, Patton was wistfully staring out the window, watching as the Cessna lifted off, the light raindrops that had begun falling bouncing off the wings, and the beautiful view that was spread out behind them.

Patton slightly smiled as he heard Virgil muttering under his breath. He looked around the cockpit and nodded.

He'd never give this lifestyle up.

He was content with this life.

Patton straightened up in his seat, rearranging his seat belt and looking over at Virgil.

"Well, Captain, what do you want your loyal copilot to do?" Patton joked, watching as Virgil smirked.

"Well, we're gonna fly a little bit away from the city. It's been a while since we've been able to fly, and I'm ready for a change of scenery. And after a while, we can return and do a few touches and goes before the final touchdown. That sound good?" Virgil turned to look at Patton, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Yup! Let's go! Into the wild blue yonder!" Patton jokingly pointed through the cockpit window at the beautiful blue sky, laughing slightly.

"Haha, off we go!" Virgil grinned at their antics.

《◇》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awe they're having fun! :D  
> ...hmmm........
> 
> Gonna have to ruin that soon ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again! I'm surprised I'm managing to update so fast, usually takes me weeks to write new chapters! *cough cough* Splash Of Color *cough*
> 
> Just so we all know, this AU is only going to have platonic Moxiety. (Because I heckin love platonic Moxiety ) but idk what other ships I'll do. Maybe Logince? Idk haha
> 
> Warning for injures. Don't like, don't read :)
> 
> Enjoy!

《◇》

Virgil collapsed on the rocky shore. His chest was heaving as he sucked in frantic breaths of air, his arms tightly wrapped around the limp form of his friend as he pulled the pair of them farther up the shore, away from the deceiving, calm waters that were gently rippling along the shore.

Virgil had managed to untangle Patton seconds before he had choked on the water, but it had taken him a minute to swim to shore, and Virgil knew that Patton's chances of survival were dropping swiftly with the amount of time he had spent without air reaching his brain.

Virgil untangled his limbs from Patton, and rolled him onto his back, kneeling by his side.

Virgil shuddered.

Patton was so cold...

He was so still, So pale...

Unmoving.

His normally excited and optimistic friend was lying on the rocky ground, limp and unresponsive. He was so still it was like he was...

Virgil shook his head, banishing those thoughts. He had to concentrate on saving Patton. Virgil rested two fingers on Patton's neck.

Nothing.

He had no pulse.

Virgil took a shuddering breath and reached forward to tilt Pattons head back, resting his head on a patch of ground that he had quickly cleared of rocks and pebbles.

Virgil had never done this on a real person in a real emergency, only on dolls on first aid classes that he took during flight school and various boy scout camps his parents forced him to attend.

Virgil screwed his eyes shut, and then took a deep breath, and moved to rest his hands on the center of Patton's chest.

Virgil took a deep breath, preparing himself.

Virgil compressed downward.

Nothing.

Virgil compressed again, to no avail. Virgil completed the thirty compressions, and leaned over Patton's still form, and pinched his nose, pushing his head back, and after a moment of hesitation, pressed his mouth to Patton, giving two rescue breaths.

Nothing.

Virgil returned to place his hands on Patton's chest, compressing downwards.

30 compressions later, Patton hadn't moved, and Virgil knew he was running out of time.

2 rescue breaths.

Nothing.

Move back.

Place hands on Pattons chest.

Press down.

Virgil compressed, and Patton moved.

Virgil gasped in relief as his friend jerked, eyes opening in panic. Virgil rolled his friend onto his side and watched as Patton jerked, water cascading from his mouth, pooling onto the ground in a mix of lake water and bile.

Patton gasped, jerking back onto his back, eyes rolling around in a haze of panic.

"Patton, Patton! Calm down. I've got you, you're safe." Virgil paused as Patton stilled "We're safe."

"V-V-Virgil?" Patton stammered, shaking violently in the cold air. "W..what happened?"

"We crashed into a lake and you got trapped... I had to untangle you, but you had already lost consciousness and breathed in water... I had to perform CPR." Virgil paused. "Patton... I thought you were dead."

Patton gasped, then raised a trembling arm as he sat up, leaning against Virgil and wrapping an arm around him, pressing his forehead into Virgil's shoulder, shaking from the shock and cold.

Virgil enveloped Patton in a hug, the soaking wet pair sitting on the deserted shoreline, all alone.

Stranded.

After a few moments, Virgil pulled away, resting his hands on Patton's shoulders.

"Patton..." Virgil paused. "All of our gear is left in the plane. If I can get some of it, it could help us find a way out of here."

"Virgil, no! If you get trapped..." Patton reached out to grab Virgil's wrist. "I won't be able to save you..."

"Patton, I'll be safe. But we need supplies. We won't last long in dripping wet clothes, during autumn, miles away from any town." Virgil sighed. "Stay here, I'll be back soon. I promise."

Patton tried to reach out to grab Virgil's hand, to protest against him leaving, but Virgil had already taken off his shoes and coat, laying them next to Patton, before walking a few feet into the water, and diving into the blue water of the lake.

Patton watched helpless, as Virgil swam down, disappearing from view after a few seconds.

Patton clutched his knees close to his chest, shivering in the cold air.

《◇》

Virgil saw the wreckage of the plane, and swam for it, his lungs burning slightly. Virgil decided to go up to the surface for a breath before trying to grab supplies. After popping up and taking a deep breath, Virgil turned and dove down.

After reaching the plane, Virgil grasped the frame of the rear passenger door, and pulled the door open, releasing a few bubbles that floated up, past his head, and to the surface. Virgil swam into the wreck and saw a pocket of air, trapped against the roof of the Cessna, just big enough for his mouth and nose to be above the water. Virgil, lungs burning, popped up from the water, pressing his forehead against the roof, and taking a deep breath of air.

With his desire for oxygen quenched, Virgil went under the water again, unbuckling the seat belts that held his and Patton's bags. While water had ruined a lot of things within the plane, everything could manage to help. Virgil picked up the bags and slung them over his shoulder. Virgil ducked under the door frame, and pushed off the plane, swimming up to the surface, ignoring the way his lungs burned.

He was doing this for Patton. Virgil could survive the cold, he could handle the uncomfortable feeling of sleeping on the ground, but he wouldn't want to make Patton suffer through that.

Virgil reached the surface, angling his aching body so he propelled himself towards the section of shore that a lone figure was sitting on.

Virgil paused a few feet from shore, managing to find a footing on the shore, and threw the bags the rest of the way, sending them skidding to a stop at Patton's feet. Patton glanced up and cried out in relief.

"Virgil!" Virgil smiled slightly as Patton cried his name.

"Patton, there's still the first aid kit and other bags. Try to look through the backpack and set things out to dry. It's probably around 2 or 3, so we should have a few more hours of sunlight before it gets too dark. I'll be back." Virgil instructed Patton, before taking another breathe and turning to swim out to the middle of the lake.

《◇》

Patton scrambled up as Virgil dove back into the water and grabbed the backpack.

Patton opened Virgils black and purple bag first, pulling out the items within, spreading them out on the ground. Patton immediately discarded the electronics, knowing that the water would have rendered them useless.

Patton pawed through the rest of the backpack, pulling out Virgil's phone, and hesitated. Patton decided not to put it in the discard pile. Maybe they could fix it when they made it back.

If...they made it back.

Patton shook his head and laid the now empty bag and useless phone on the ground to dry next to Virgils jacket and shoes.

Patton was about to go through his bag, only managing to grab his glasses from the side pocket and slip them onto his face, when he heard a splash. Patton looked up to see Virgil sluggishly swimming towards him, a bag on his back and... a trail of red behind him.

Blood.

Virgil was bleeding.

《◇》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The queen of cliffhangers has returned~
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Comment if you did! Really lifts my spirits when people tell me they appreciate my chapters :)
> 
> 《◇》
> 
> Pattons body was limp and unresponsive. He was not breathing, not moving. Like a freshly cooked noodle.
> 
> 《◇》
> 
> Idk that's all I could think about while writing... :p
> 
> -Ren


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support and love this story had been getting!
> 
> Definitions for this chapter:
> 
> B.O.B - Bug Out Bag - portable kit that normally contains the items one would need to survive for 72 hours in the event of disaster.
> 
> The reason I chose a B.O.B instead of an Aviation Emergency Kit is because  
> 1) Don't want to make this too easy on the bois...  
> 2) Virgil and Patton are financially challenged and a B.O.B was cheaper and they never thought they'd need to actual be out in the wild, alone, for over 72 hours.
> 
> For those who asked about earlier chapters - the "Yoke" is basically a steering wheel for planes :) google it if you want to research more.
> 
> Lets go!

《◇》

"Patton, there's still the first aid kit and other bags. Try to look through the backpack and set things out to dry. It's probably around 2 or 3, so we should have a few more hours of sunlight before it gets too dark. I'll be back." Virgil instructed Patton, before taking another deep breathe and turning to swim out to the middle of the lake, for what would hopefully be his last trip into the sunken wreckage of their beloved plane. 

Virgil stretched his arms in front of him, quickly making his way to the middle of the lake, and took a deep breath before plunging downwards once again, quickly reaching the wreck, pulling himself in with ease. As Virgil fumbled with untangling the first aid kit from its place behind the rear seat. As his lungs began to burn with a firey passion, Virgil pushed up to gather the last available amount of air from the pocket of oxygen that had been trapped by the roof of the plane. Virgil then dove back down, and successfully grabbed the box, and pushed himself out of the plane.

Fire.

Virgil almost screamed, almost inhaled and sucked in the water around him.

It felt as if his leg was on fire.

Virgil swiftly glanced down, and almost cried out again in shock.

His leg had been pushed against a crumpled edge of the plane frame when he pushed himself off the seat and out of the plane, the crumpled edge had been crushed into a dagger-like point. Virgil felt sick as he looked at his leg, blood floating around it eerily, a cut stretching from his knee to his ankle. 

Virgil grimaced and quickly floated by the side of the plane, wrenching open the baggage compartment, and pulling out the B.O.B, before using his uninjured leg to push off the lake floor, swiftly heading to the surface.

When Virgil reached the top of the lake, he surged through the water's surface, creating a huge splash as he sucked in desperate breath after breath.

Virgil whipped his head towards the shore and began to swim desperately, his only wish to make it to the shore.

He felt himself slow.

He couldn't keep on going.

He was so tired.

He just wanted to sleep.

If he gave up... he'd be able to find rest...

Virgil felt his aching muscles slow, head drooping to lie in the water.

The water was peaceful.

The water was calming.

Virgil hadn't taken a breath in over 30 seconds.

Virgil had given up.

Virgil was at peace.

《◇》

Patton frantically shoved himself to his feet, swaying slightly as he stumbled desperately towards the water, and Virgils still form, which had stopped moving moments ago.

Patton splashed into the water, paddling towards his friend, slicing through the red-tinted water near Virgil. Patton wrapped an arm around Virgil's torso, and began to make his way back to shore, desperately trying to keep himself and Virgil afloat.

He were going to make it.

They were going to make it.

《◇》

Virgil blinked sluggishly, feeling the first aid box that was loosely clutched in his right hand be pulled away, the B.O.B that was on his back already gone.

Virgil tiredly blinked his eyes, about to sit up when a hand on his chest stopped him.

"Virgil, calm down. I've got you. You're safe."

"Patton..? What..." Virgil quietly 

"You just... collapsed while swimming back. I had to go out and save you. Virgil...I'm scared" Patton glanced down at Virgil through his lashes. "What if we die out here? What if we never get found?" Patton sighed and moved to crouch next to the pile of discarded items on the ground.

Virgil sad up slowly, noticing that Patton had sorted through all of the backpacks, a pile of discarded items left on the beach, the rest of the items laid out in the afternoon sun, semi-dry.

Virgil slowly raised himself to his feet, before collapsing to the ground, pain lacing up his leg.

"Oh, Virgil! I'm so sorry! I was letting the bandages dry before setting them on your leg! The first aid kit wasn't waterproof, and I forgot to warn you... the bandages should be ready by now though" Patton rushed over and helped Virgil situated his discoordinated limbs, before dashing over to a rock where a few strips of bandages were lying out in the sunlight. Patton picked up a bandage and grabbed a bottle of antibiotic ointment from the open first aid kit, before hurrying back to Virgil's side. "Okay, deep breaths. This is going to hurt." Patton instructed Virgil, waiting for Virgil to take a breath, before quickly pouring the ointment into the gash, before quickly wrapping the bandage around Virgils limb.

Patton winced as Virgil arched his back, struggling against Patton's restraining hands, a scream echoing through the empty forest.

Patton felt tears drip down his face as the echoes of Virgil's pain induced scream rang through the surrounding forest. Patton felt Virgil slump back to the shores surface, tiredly relaxing onto the rocky ground.

"Virgil, Virgil come on kiddo. We need to get moving. It's getting late, and we definitely can't stay the night here. We need to seek shelter." Patton urged his friend, trying to get him to respond.

Nothing.

Patton desperately shook Virgil's shoulder, trying to get him to wake.

Patton thought back to the crash, how he had watched Virgil's head slam into the yoke before Virgil stopped responding for a few moments. With the force of the crash, Patton wouldn't be spruced if Virgil had a slight or worse concussion.

They needed to get help.

Patton sat back, gazing wistfully up at the quickly darkening sky.

Just to think that a few hours ago they had been soaring through those same clouds, without a care in the world...

How had this all happened so fast?

...

"Why did this happen...?" Patton whispered into the silent air.

Patton rested his head in his knees, before getting up to grab the blankets from the B.O.B, resigning to spending the night next to the lake. 

They'd move tomorrow when Virgil woke up.

Patton gently tucked a blanket around Virgil, and grabbed Teddy from where he was lying on a rock, drying, and tucked him below Virgils head.

Patton grabbed a blanket for himself, lying on the rocky ground resting his head on the sandy surface, pulling off his glasses and setting them on a rock beside him. 

Patton shivered in the cold air, and burrowed deeper into the thin blanket, before rolling onto his side, resigning himself to a night of unrest.

Hopefully help would come for them soon...

《◇》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No promises, but I'll try to get a chapter on Roman and Logan out next!
> 
> Please leave a comment if you're liking it so far!
> 
> \- Ren


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one takes place a little after the plane went down.  
> I'm really sorry for the OOC actions of these characters, I'll try to work on that :)
> 
> Prop- Propeller. Just making sure everyone knows :]

《◇》

"Logan..?" 

Logan glanced up as Roman quietly asked for him. 

"Yeah?" Logan turned to dip the rag he was holding into the bucket of soapy water that was lying on the wing next to him before proceeding to wash the right prop of the Viking. "What's up?"

"Logan, it's been a while since Virgil and Patton left... they were just going to do a quick flyover the forests and then come back for a few touch and goes. It doesn't take" Roman glanced down at the screen of his phone. "3 hours to do that."

"Roman, maybe they got distracted. You know Patton." Logan attempted to calm Romans nerves.

"But you also know Virgil. Virgil was so careful, he'd contact us before changing anything about his flight plan. And anyways, he would've had to contact ATC to change the flight plan." Roman argued. "I have a friend that works for ATC here, she's probably on break now. I'll contact her." Roman stated. "I'm just worried... they've never gone off without telling us.." Roman quietly sighed and turned to exit the hangar, already dialing the number of his friend on his phone.

Logan stared after his friend, then down at the glossy metal of the plane beneath him.

Maybe Roman was right to be concerned.

Maybe something had happened to their plane.

Logan dropped the rag over the side of the bucket, quickly grabbing it and carefully descending the ladder, setting the bucket in the floor and then exited the hangar.

Before Logan could get too far, he spotted Roman, leaning against the outside wall on his phone, nervously chewing on his lip as someone on the other line talked rapidly.

It didn't look like Roman was getting any good news.

Logan walked over, standing stoically next to his forlorn friend.

"Are you sure?" Roman asked the person on the other line. Logan couldn't hear their response, but he knew it wasn't the answer that Roman was looking for. "Well, we should get out there, me and Logan!" Logan gave Roman a side glance as his voice raised in anger. "Kim. I don't give a single rats a** what they have to say! Those are my friends out there, possibly lost, possibly.." Roman paused, buying his lip. "They could be dead, Kim. Virgil and Patton. I can't sit here and wait to get a fuc*ing police report that tells me they died in a painful, lonely plane crash. I.. we need to find them."

Logan hesitantly reached an arm out, resting a comforting hand on Romans shoulder.

Roman glanced up at him, his gratefulness obvious in his deep hazel eyes. Roman then said goodbye to 'Kim' and shoved his phone in his pocket.

"Logan, go get the plane ready." Roman stated shortly.

"What, why? I thought..." Logan questioned 

"Logan." Romans voice shook with thinly veiled anger.

"Yes..?" Logan responded.

"We're going to find our friends. No matter what."

"But.." Logan still hesitated, unsure if this was the smartest course of action.

"If you're not with me, I'll leave without you." Roman turned sharply on his heel, marching towards the hangar. "I'll find Patton and Virgil myself if I have to. Goodbye Logan." Roman turned the corner, swiftly striding into the hangar, and begun removing buckets, ladders, and other miscellaneous cleaning products from around the plane.

Logan stepped up next to Roman, saying nothing. He bent down and picked up the bucket that Roman was heading for. Roman glanced up, a questioning look in his eyes.

"I'd never abandon our friends Roman. Let's do this." Logan moved the ladder and bucket to the side of the hangar, before quickly hurrying back to the plane, clambering up into the seat of the Viking.

Roman quickly did the outside checks as Logan got the plane prepared from the cockpit.

They were on a mission.

They were going to find Patton and Virgil.

Dead or Alive.

《◇》

Patton blinked. Why was it so cold in his room? He didn't remember turning on the air conditioning or leaving a window open yesterday.

Patton yawned as he sluggishly sat up.

"Oh." Right. Patton wasn't at home, in the apartment with his four other friends, safe and sound.

The crash.

Patton and Virgil were stranded.

Virgil was injured. A possible concussion and a leg wound.

Patton was still sore from his experience with being trapped under the water.

They didn't have that many supplies.

They were in no shape to be surviving out in the wilderness.

What did they do to deserve this..?

Patton sadly gazed at Virgil, who was still sleeping, obvious by the slight rise and fall of his chest under the light blanket Patton had set on him the previous night.

Patton quietly rose, collecting his glasses from their place on a rock and slipping them onto his face, then grabbing his cardigan from the pile of drying clothes before carefully tiptoeing past Virgil, before heading up the shore and slipping into the tree line.

《◇》

Virgil sluggishly rose from his place on the ground, looking around. The events of the plane crash came back to him, causing Virgil to look around for Patton.

"Patton..?" Virgil winced at how his voice sounded, almost as if he took a cheese grater to his throat. Multiple times.

Virgil heard a rustle from the treeline and tensed. Wild animals lived in forests... moose, bears, deer, foxes...

All dangerous creatures.

Virgil let out a sigh of relief as a familiar cardigan-clad form exited the forest, jogging over to him.

"Hey Virgil! You're up! I was a bit worried after you passed out yesterday..." Patton ran up to Virgil, panting slightly.

"Where... where were you?" Virgil asked cautiously, curious what Patton had been doing.

"Well, nature called for me if you get what I'm saying." Patton winked at Virgil, a smirk on his face. "But on other topics, I found a good place for a shelter! Not too far from the lake, not too far into the forest, and it'll be a quick trip for you, seeing as your leg is..." Patton fell silent, staring at Virgil's leg. "I'm sorry."

"Patton, you have nothing to be sorry for. This is all my fault. I didn't keep an eye in the fuel gauge. I crashed the plane. I couldn't free you quick enough. I went down into the plane. I didn't watch where I was going. I cut my leg open. Everything is my fault." Virgil buried his head in his arms. "This is all because of me."

Patton silently rested a hand on Virgil's shoulder. "Come on Virgil. Let's go." Patton quickly shoved items into the three bags that were lying on the shore, quickly zipping them up, slinging the B.O.B and his backpack over his arm, before handing Virgil his backpack to put on. After Virgil slid the straps over his arm, Patton helped him up, carefully pulling Virgil's arm around his shoulders, keeping weight off the injured leg.

As the duo slowly made their way away from the lake, heading towards the forest, Virgil only had one thought.

Patton hadn't denied that it was his fault...

《◇》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed...
> 
> Please leave a comment, review, criticism, literally anything. I'll even take a singly smiley face emoji.
> 
> It helps a lot.
> 
> \- R


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 《◇》WARNING《◇》
> 
> ANIMAL DEATH FOR THE PURPOSE OF ACHIEVING FOOD IS WRITTEN ABOUT IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT, DO NOT READ.
> 
> THE ANIMAL DEATH TAKES PLACE UNTIL THE FIRST "《◇》" CHAPTER BREAKER. SKIP TO THERE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT IT.
> 
> It made me very sad to write it. I LOVE RABBITS ;_;
> 
> 《◇》

《◇》

Patton lightly held the pocket knife that he had taken from the B.O.B in his hand, quietly creeping through the trees, looking for any sign of life.

Patton loved animals.

He had a pet cat back home.

...He hoped Roman and Logan remembered to feed her...

He didn't want to do this.

Animals are all so cute...

But they had no food.

The B.O.B bag only had food packets that required water to make and they had no sanitary water, and using the lake water would be running a high risk of getting sick.

And the fruit snacks. They were gone. Patton shook his head. He was an idiot. He was just so hungry after leading Virgil through the trees to the shelter he found that he had immediately dug into the sugary treats, eating 5 of the small packets, leaving only 6 left for Virgil to eat, Virgil leaving 3 to the side for later.

They wouldn't last long without food, even if the dehydration would kill them anyways.

They just had to hold out until Logan or Roman could find them.

Or anyone.

Patton would take a crazy homeless person at this point. He just wanted to have someone (other than Virgil) to talk to.

Pattons froze as a bush to his right moved. Patton stilled his limbs, being as unmoving as possible.

A little animal hopped out.

Patton felt his eye twitch.

He couldn't.

Not this cute little guy.

It looked like Thumper from Bambi...

Patton gulped, and before the rabbit could react, slammed his hand over it, pushing it to the ground. The rabbit squeaked and squirmed, kicking its legs against the dirt on an attempt to free themselves.

"I'm so sorry buddy..." As Patton raised the knife the rabbit struggled violently against his hand desperately to free itself and after a moment of hesitation, turned his head away, tears streaming down his cheeks, and brought the knife down.

There was a squeak, the rabbit twitched underneath his hand before stilling... then nothing. The rabbit was gone.

Patton picked up the rabbit and held it by its hind legs as he stood, forlornly gazing at the rabbit's body. As Patton turned to head back to camp he wiped his eyes desperately, sniffling.

They needed food.

This was the only way.

Patton felt a slight chill in the air before droplets of water started hitting him.

Rain.

Patton shivered and paused to rest the animal in his hand on the ground, untangling his cardigan from around his neck and slipping it over his head, feeling grateful for its offer of warmth.

Patton picked the rabbit up again and quickened his pace along the trail of trampled plants and broken branches he had left as a marker to get back to the shelter and Virgil.

《◇》

Virgil sat on a log in the middle of the clearing that Patton had deemed their new shelter. A fallen tree resting against a mossy boulder had created a small overhang, just large enough for the two of them to lay down out of the elements. Virgil glumly looked at the items from the various bags they had grabbed that were scattered around him. Before leaving to search for food Patton had instructed him to find anything that could be useful in making food.

So far Virgil had a lighter, for starting fires, a few branches he had snapped of a nearby tree, a packet of McDonald's Salt-n-Pepper that had fallen to the bottom of his backpack, a small metal can that could possibly sit in the fire and cook items, tin foil, and two pocket knives (one was his, the other from the First Aid Kit.)

Virgil sighed and slowly rose from his log, taking care to keep as much weight as possible off his injured leg.

Virgil limped over to the tree line, before pausing and returning to grab his pocket knife.

Knife secured to one of his belt loops, Virgil proceeded back to the tree line, slipping between two towering pines and into the woods, heading back to where he remembered the lake being.

Right as Virgil stepped out of the clearing, the skies decided to darken, raindrops falling from the dreary heavens, swiftly impacting Virgil and the earth.

Virgil untied his still slightly damp hoodie from his waist, slipping his thin arms through it and zipping it tightly up, pulling the hood to rest on his purple hair, before continuing to trek through the woods.

《◇》

Patton threw a quick look up at the sky. By his guess, it was around 12:00 PM. 

They had crashed around 1:00PM the day previously.

The duo had officially survived 24 hours in the wilderness.

They were now officially listed as missing.

Logan and Roman were most likely looking for them.

Patton shivered at the thought of a plane crash happening to Logan and Roman.

Patton and Virgil had been very lucky, he knew that.

Patton shook his head, and looked ahead, spotting the clearing that Patton had deemed their shelter up ahead.

Patton lightly jogged through the trees, a smile gracing his face at the thought of his friend.

"Virgil! I'm back!" Patton cried happily, bounding into the clearing.

Silence.

"Virgil..." Patton looked around.

A bird chirped in the trees.

Virgil didn't reply.

Patton looked over at the log that Virgil had been using ad a seat before he left.

Nothing.

Patton looked underneath the fallen tree. Maybe Virgil was resting.

He wasn't.

Patton called for him.

"Virgil!"

Silence.

"Virgil??"

Nothing.

Patton ran toward the trees, maybe Virgil had gone toward the shore.

Patton had told him to stay put.

Why didn't he listen to him??

Patton quickened his pace, rabbit forgotten, left lying in the dusty dirt of the clearing.

He was going to get Virgil.

《◇》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay.
> 
> \- Ren


	7. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Skip this longish AN if you just care about the story and not "Fun storytime with Ren" pwp
> 
> So...  
> We all know I'm a big fan of aviation (hence this story) and I hope to be a US AirForce pilot in the future.  
> But I don't really have the money for flight school rn so it'll have to wait until college or until I am able to save up enough money from my job.
> 
> But...
> 
> MY PARENTS SURPRISED ME WITH AN INTRODUCTORY FLIGHT FOR CHRISTMAS!  
> The flight was scheduled on the 29th of December, and it was at a local flight school, but sadly it got canceled because of bad weather. But then it happened on Wednesday the 2nd and it was Amazing! :). (It was so much fun, the instructor was a cool guy named Ryan and he did a few stalls at one point and that was my favorite part ((other then me getting to actually fly a plane haha)) and it was so cool.)
> 
> So now that I know more about piloting a Cessna 172 Skyhawk (Got to fly it for an hour :D) I might go back and edit some small things that I messed up in the earlier chapters. ...before the plane yeeted itself into a lake. The Viking that Roman and Logan are flying probably has lots of mess ups, but can't fix that haha :p)
> 
> AN OVER! :3
> 
> 1045 words without the AN.

《◇》

Roman stared determinedly out the window of the plane, hazel eyes scanning the forested ground below them for any sign of their lost friends.

Logan sat beside him, silently controlling the plane as they glided along through the morning sky.

Logan had forced Roman to take a break from the search for a few hours last night to refuel the plane and get a few hours rest (Although Roman refused to go home, causing them to sleep in the back seat of the car) before they continued to look, and while Roman knew it was for the best, he found himself angered at his friend. It seemed like Logan wasn't as invested in the search.

Almost as if he had already... given up on Virgil and Patton.

As if...

As if he already thought they were dead.

Roman knew Logan was always the logical one, making choices and statements based on the facts rather than emotions. And there were very few reasons that Virgil and Patton wouldn't have returned. A crash was the most likely.

And plane crashes can very easily be fatal.

Roman knew it had been about 24 hours since they had theorized Virgil and Patton crashed. 24 hours in the cold conditions of a forest, with little shelter or food. Ould be dangerous. Especially if they got injured when the Cessna went down.

Roman sighed, resting his head against the cool glass of the window.

"What if we never find them, Logan?" Roman muttered, breath creating small clouds of condensation on the Planes cold window. "What if they went down in a lake and we'll never be able to find them. Planes disappear and are never found again. It happens."

"Roman." Roman glanced over to Logan as he spoke. "Don't think like that. We will find Virgil and Patton. If the plane went down we'd find pieces at the very least. Just keep looking. This isn't like you, Roman. You don't just... give up." Logan stated, moving a hand to pat Romans shoulder. Logan then moved his hand back on the yoke, eyes returning to scan the horizon ahead of them, pushing forward slightly to cause the horizon to come more into view, glancing around the terrain below, searching for any sign of the Cessna.

Roman sighed, eyes tiredly blinking as the soothing sounds of the plane's engine tried to lull him to the sweet world of rest and dreams. As Roman rested his head on the window of the plane, he heard the sounds of rain beginning to fall, striking against the window.

Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter,

Roman shook himself back to alertness, looking over at Logan, whose gaze was fixed straight ahead, occasionally glancing down to glance towards lakes to try to see if any sign of a Cessna was there, eyes scanning the horizon and terrain for any sign of Virgil and Patton.

Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter,

Roman decided to give his eyes a break from the endless amount of trees and lakes, pulling his phone from his pocket and powering it on. Seeing he still had data, Roman opened his Instagram app, and went to Patton's profile, tapping on the most recent post, one that had been made the day previous. It was already liked and commented on by Roman.

Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter,

Roman sighed. The post was a picture of Virgil and Patton, both smiling at the camera, Patton with a full-blown grin, and Virgil with a shy smile. Both looked so happy.

So...peaceful.

And safe.

And... alive.

Roman didn't know if Patton and Virgil were any of those things anymore. Raising a trembling hand to wipe away the welling tears from his eyes, Roman sniffed and turned to put his phone away, before jolting as Logan shoved his hand into his face, offering a pack of kleenex.

"Th...Thanks." Roman muttered as he wiped his eyes and blew his embarrassingly runny nose. "Sorry. I'm just getting emotional."

"Roman." Logan awkwardly rested a hand on Roman's shoulder, leaving one hand on the yoke of the plane, "I promise you. We'll find them. And they're going to be alright." Roman smiled sadly, before nodding.

"Yeah..."

Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter,

"Yeah, we will."

《◇》

Virgil wrapped his jacket tighter around himself, pulling his hoodie close to his head, hoping to block out the chilling rain that was pelting down from the gloomy skies.

"Virgil! Virgil!" Virgil paused as Patton's voice rang out from behind him. "Virgil! Wait!"

"...Patton?" Virgil turned, seeing Patton, hair messed up, cardigan hastily pulled over his body, lower legs covered in mud, presumably from his swift run. "What are you.."

"Virgil!" Patton cried, reaching Virgil, arms wrapping around him. "Virgil, what are you doing? Why did you leave the camp?"

Virgil pulled away from Patton's arms, confused.

"I was going to the lake... to get rocks..."

"Get rocks? Virgil are you okay?" Patton asked worriedly, resting a hand on Virgil's arm.

"Get rocks for the fire. We need to put rocks around a fire if we make one so it doesn't spread..." Virgil mumbled, attempting to pull away from Patton to continue on his mission to reach the lake.

Patton tightened his grip on Virgil's arm, raising his hand to rest the back of it on Virgil's forehead.

"Virgil! You're burning up!" Patton cried. "We need to get you back to camp."

"But I'm not on fire..." Virgil mumbled. Patton shushed him and pulled one of Virgil's trembling arms over his shoulders, turning and beginning to make his way back toward their camp, pulling Virgil with him, who stumbled, his bandaged leg collapsing and forcing Patton to let go before Virgil dragged him to the rocky and muddy ground.

Virgil cried out in pain, and as Patton knelt down to pull him onto his back, Virgil moaned in pain, head rolling to rest limply on Patton's shoulder as Patton straightened up, jogging toward camp, arms looping around Virgil's legs, carefully avoiding the bandages wrapped around his injured leg.

As Patton concentrated on making it back to camp, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.

Meaning he missed one important thing.

The distant sounds of a small plane flying over the forest.

《◇》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too happy with it, but it's something…
> 
> Please comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> -Ren


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the lack of updates! I finished this fic but just stopped updating on Ao3 :)
> 
> [There Has Been A Slight Time Skip pwp]
> 
> Also- Logan/Roman/Virgil/Patton live in Canada btw. :3

《◇》

Patton sighed, picking a blueberry and popping it into his mouth, before grabbing another handful and carefully placing them in the empty backpack that the pair used to transport their food from place to place.

After the terrifying experience of Virgil wandering off due to a fever, Patton had managed to locate him and get him back to camp. but even though his fever had lifted after a few days of rest, a week later Patton still didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone or letting him wander off by himself. Sure, it slowed things down, but Patton didn't want to risk anything. He could've lost Virgil in the woods that day..

As Patton turned and walked across the small clearing to offer the backpack to Virgil, who was standing at a different bush, picking off blackberries and stuffing them into his hoodie's pockets.

"Here Virgil, you can empty your pockets into this. We should have enough to go back soon."

"'Kay.." Virgil murmured, accepting the pack from Patton and continuing to pick berries.

Patton stood for a few seconds, gazing st the back of Virgil's head. He was worried for him, after the whole 'incident' where Virgil had wandered off, he had been quieter then normal, not speaking as much, not even flinching when Patton changed his leg bandages, even though the wound looked raw and inflamed..

Patton sighed, then raised his voice to call across the small clearing to Virgil.

"So...penny for your thoughts?" Patton turned back to picking the blueberries, head turned so he could talk over his shoulder to Virgil.

"Patton.. it's been what, a week and two, three days? What's the chances anyone is going to find us? We don't know where we are, just in the middle of a Canadian Forest in autumn, and it's getting closer to winter by each passing day." Virgil turned, shocking Patton with the look of anger that was upon his face. "We're going to die out here Patton. We can't just live off of water and berries forever."

Before Patton could answer, Virgil froze, then whirled around.

"Virgil, wha-" Patton started.

"Shut up!" Virgil snapped. Patton fell silent, listening for what Virgil was hearing.

Slowly, Patton heard a sound, growing louder.

The sounds of a helicopter.

A search team.

Patton and Virgil froze, before bolting.

"Patton you're faster then me, get back to camp!" Virgil urged his friend to go on without him.

"But Virgil-" Patton protested.

"Go! Get the flare gun from the B.O.B. signal the helicopter! Go!" Virgil yelled to his friend. Patton reluctantly nodded and picked up his pace, feet leaving clouds of dust as they pounded the ground as he raced ahead.

Ignoring the pain in his sides, the aching of his muscles and the shortness of his breath, Patton pushed on, following the trail of trampled shrubs and broken branches the provided a path of sorts from the berry patches to their camp.

As Patton rounded a corner, he saw the camp, he bolted for it, taking longer strides and jumping over a fallen log, darting in to the clearing and falling to his knees, ignoring how the dirt, muddy from yesterday's rain, soaking his jeans. Patton grasped the zipper of the B.O.B bag, desperately tearing it open and rifling through the content, before locating the neon orange box that contained the flare gun and yanking it out of the bag and into his lap.

Patton struggled with the latches of the box, before flipping them open and swinging the lid up, grasping the handle of the gun, loading in a flare and standing to his feet, raising the gun above his head.

Right as Virgil swiftly dashed into the clearing, slightly hindered by his limp, Patton plugged his ear with one hand, squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation, and squeezed the trigger of the gun.

Patton felt the gun jerk, and knew he had successfully sent off the flare. Patton brought his arm back down, letting the gun drop out of his limp grasp, hitting the forest floor with a dull thud.

"Patton..." Virgil stepped toward his friend. "Patton, oh my god you did it." Virgil smiled, a grin that shone like the stars they often gazed at during the cold nights they had suffered through for the past week and some days.

"Virgil... we did it. We're going to be saved." Patton was shocked, he couldn't believe it. The helicopter had to have seen the flare, there was no way they couldn't have.

They were going to be saved.

This nightmare was going to be over.

They were going to see Roman and Logan soon.

"...Patton..?" Virgil's smile slowly dropped from his face. "Sh..shouldn't the helicopter have flown over us by now... when they saw the flare they should have checked it out..." Virgil glanced to the sky, seeing nothing but clouds and the sunlight peeking through. "...I can't hear it anymore..."

"Did..." Patton gulped, feeling his heart drop. "They couldn't have missed the flare... right?"

Virgil sighed, collapsing to a seat on the log that Patton and he had dragged next to their fire area, burying his head in his hands.

Patton sat next to him, and wrapped an arm around him.

"Virgil that was a helicopter... helicopters don't come out here often... they... they must have been LEOs or the CAP looking for us... they must have..." Patton tried to comfort Virgil, but he didn't even believe himself.

When Virgil remained silent, Patton got up and picked up the discarded flare gun, packing it back into its box.

"We still have 4 flares left. Next time we leave camp I'll keep the gun with us so we'll be prepared." Patton set a determined look on his face. "We will get out of here Virgil. Alive, both of us. And we'll see Logan and Roman, we'll get the Cessna out of the lake, fix her up, and keep on flying." Patton reached out and enveloped Virgil in a hug. "Now, let's eat some food, and I'll start boiling water so we can drink it later."

Patton stood, determined. They were going to make it home.

Alive and Healthy.

《◇》


	9. Chapter 9

《◇》

Virgil sighed, rolling onto his side and pulling his arm to rest under his head, providing a cushion against the rocky forest floor as he gazed up at the dark morning sky, seeing the stars twinkling and shining in the pitch black abyss.

Virgil blinked, and slowly stood up, taking care not to disturb Patton, and crept out from under the fallen tree trunk that was their makeshift shelter. Virgil skirted the dying embers of the fire they had used to make their dinner and stepped over the log that functioned as a seat and out past the treeline.

《◇》

Patton jerked awake, and turned to check on Virgil as he always did, it was a reflex by now. Patton blinked as he saw the empty area next to him, before scrambling up and darting out of the shelter.

"Virgil!" Patton called, head whipping around to search the clearing for his younger friend. "Virgi-"

"What?" Patton turned as he saw Virgil stepping back into the clearing, hand raising to cover his mouth as he yawned.

"Virgil! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Where did you go?" Patton cried, reaching forward and enveloping Virgil in a tight hug.

"What- Patton, dude. You can't expect me to wake you up whenever nature calls." Virgil crossed his arms as Patton released him, a bemused expression placed upon his face.

"Still. After that... Incident, I'm cautious. You can understand why right?" Patton waited till Virgil reluctantly nodded, before trotting back to the log, sitting down and poking the dying embers of the fire with a stick. "Well I'm probably gonna stay up, looks like it's around three or something... somewhere around there. You can catch a few Z's while I prepare breakfast."

"What are you going to make?" Virgil questioned, plodding across the clearing and laying back down.

"Probably just berries and a drink of water again..." Patton awkwardly ran his fingers through his hair. "Sorry."

Virgil groaned, and rolled over, resting his head on his arm. "It's fine. But when we get back home, we're going to a buffet and I'm going to eat so much food."

"Yeah! I'm going to have chicken... cookies... maybe a slice of cake..." Patton smiled as he fantasized about the treats he would consume upon their rescue.

"It'll be delicious." Patton and Virgil chimed in unison.

《◇》

"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do. We put all of our manpower and even volunteers on the search, but they've come up with nothing."

Logan sighed, watching as Roman, sitting next to him, rested his elbows on the polished oak table of the police chiefs desk, resting his head in his hands.

"Sir, with all due respect, we can't just give up! These are two men, possibly starving in the middle of the woods! You can't just abandon our best friends!" Logan rested a hand on Romans shoulder and pleaded with the police chief, who was looking apologetic, but firm.

"We can't spare any more men." The police chief organized the papers on his desk, setting them into a folder and neatly setting it aside, before setting his elbows on the table, clasping his hands together, a grim look in his eyes. "... I'm sorry. We're sending out the last search team today to do one final search, but you have to understand... it's been two weeks. Even if they're found they might not be.."

"Don't." Logan was taken aback by the fury in Romans voice as he addressed the police chief. "Logan, we're leaving."

"Roman.." Logan slowly stood as Roman pushed his chair up, walking to the door to leave.

"You may abandon our friends, but we will never stop searching." Roman narrowed his eyes, glaring at the Police Chief. "As usual, we'll be flying alongside the search team today. And we'll be searching tomorrow. And the day after that. We'll never stop searching." With that final remark, Roman left the stunned Police Chief and Logan standing by the desk and pushed out the heavy oak doors, letting them slam shut behind him.

Logan spared the Police Chief an apologetic glance, then raced after Roman, catching up to him in the parking lot.

"Logan. What took you so long?" Logan was taken aback at the sharpness of Romans voice. "Apologizing for my actions? Even though they were 100% justified?"

"No. I was asking the secretary when the search heli leaves." Logan answered shortly, pushing past Roman to reach their car. "The Heli leaves at 12 PM. We've got an hour and a half to get ready." Logan opened the driver's side door and sat in the seat, Roman joining him on the passenger's side.

"We're going to find him, Roman. I'd spend the rest of my life searching until we fund them." Logan reassured his friend.

"I know..."

《◇》

Patton pulled the cardigan over his head, tying it back around his neck, sort of like a makeshift cape.

Patton smiled as he felt the warm sunlight warm up on his exposed arms as the sun rays filtered through the forests canopy.

"For Autumn, it's pretty warm." Patton noted to Virgil, who was walking next to him.

"Yeah, especially for Canada." Virgil agreed, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie to feel the warm sunlight. "Why are we going to the river though? The lake is so much closer."

Patton was silent for a moment, before sighing. "I know it's stupid. I just don't want to spend any more time near the Ces... the plane then I have to..."

Virgil nodded, then sighed. "Yeah..."

Patton spared Virgil a glance, giving him a hopeful smile and patting him on the arm.

"Don't worry Virgil... it wasn't your fault that we ended up in this mess... the plane was full on fuel... there's no way we could've run out that quickly. If anything it's my fault... if there was a leak I should've seen something during the pre-flight checks."

"It's..." Virgil sighed. "We shouldn't dwell on the past. We're here now and all we need to do is get back home."

"I know..."

《◇》

Virgil laid his (now soaking) Hoodie on the tree log where Patton's drying items were also drying.

Virgil was just left in his boxers and his grimy undershirt as his recently 'cleaned' clothes dried in the bright sunlight, and Patton had dressed in the spare set of clothes that were supplied in the B.O.B, a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt, allowing him to wash all of his clothes instead of just the top layer like Virgil was doing (it was warm but Virgil wasn't particularly up to going commando. He'd rather just deal with the slightly grimy underclothes he was wearing. Patton was wading in the shallows, as Virgil sat on a rock, dipping his feet in and occasionally throwing a rock or tossing in a tree branch and watching it get swept away by the current of the river.

Virgil was entranced by the sounds of the river and the surrounding nature that he barely registered Patton calling to him.

"...Irgil! Virgil!"

"What? Patton, what's up?" Virgil swiveled on his rock and turned to see Patton (who had abandoned the activity of wading through the river and was currently sitting on a narrow tree about fifteen feet or so away from Virgil that had fallen and currently lay over the river, a few feet above the swirling currents of the swiftly flowing middle of the river.

Patton had his legs dangling off the edge, and he was pointing upward at the clear sky.

"Virgil! Do you hear that?" Patton cried gesturing toward the sky.

Virgil listened for a few moments, before realizing what Patton was talking about.

The distant hum of a helicopter, growing steadily closer.

"Patton! There's a helicopter!" Virgil cried, jumping from the rock to the shore, slipping on the uneven surface of the slippery rocks and falling. Virgil felt a jolt of pain as his injured leg scraped against sharp rocks, but he still bounded up, racing towards Patton.

"Virgil! Oh my god!" Patton's hand raised to cover his mouth, as he pointed above. Virgil saw the helicopter in the distance and following it was a plane... It was a...

A Viking.

"Patton! That's Logan and Roman! It has to be! Oh my god!" Virgil felt a smile break through his face. "Get the flare gun! They're going to fly right over us! We're going to be rescued!" Virgil cried, watching as Patton scrambled to get the flare gun from the case that was secured to the belt tied around his waist.

Virgil watched nervously as Patton detached it from his belt, as the belt attachment was preventing it from being opened, and before Virgil could warn him to be careful, Patton shook, leg slipping off the tree trunk.

And then he plunged into the swirling waters of the river.

Virgil gasped as Patton disappeared into the middle of the river, disappearing underneath the water, flare gun falling with him, handle clasped in his grip.

Virgil stood, shocked for a moment, before racing down the bank, watching for Patton. Virgil saw him surface, Patton's arms flailing desperately as he was pulled by the current, water washing over his face and terror clear on his face. Virgil turned and dove into the water, his arms driving him forward as he swam through the strong current toward the struggling man.

Virgil grasped Patton, placing a hand underneath his chest and pulling him flush against his body, legs kicking through the strong water, pushing them out of the current and to the shore.

As Virgil dragged Patton to the solid ground, he quickly yanked the Flare Gun case from Patton's limp and cold hand, quickly loading the gun and raising it above his head, pulling the trigger.

After feeling the kickback of the flare gun firing, Virgil flung the gun aside carelessly, turning his attention to Virgil, placing his hands upon his chest and interlacing his fingers, pressing down upon the unresponsive man's chest.

Patton's body was limp, unresponsive.

"No.. not again.." Virgil felt his eyes tear up.

He wasn't breathing.

《◇》

Roman heard the crackle of the radio through his headset before the low tone of the helicopters search team's pilot came over the comm.

"We have a visual on two men matching the description. Forward and to the right, please confirm. Over."

Roman jolted up, pressing his hand to the glass and looking out. His eyes scanned the horizon before he saw two forms near a river, one standing next to a tree log laying over the river, and the other pointing to the sky while fumbling with a bright orange bag on his lap.

It was them.

"Search team, it's them! Set down, we'll circle above while you rescue. Over." Roman couldn't believe it.

"Roger. We'll loop around the clearing to determine the best place to set down, then we'll get your friends out of there. Over." The radio crackled, then went silent.

Roman sighed in relief, turning to Logan. He turned to speak to Logan, whose knuckles were clutching the yoke, knuckles bone white.

"Lo-"

"Hey! One of the men has fallen in the river! Repeat- one of the men has fallen in the river! Over!"

Roman whipped back to the window, gasping as he looked below. Virgil was alone. Racing down the shore as Patton's flailing form bobbed and swirled in the current, the orange box (which Roman determined to be a flare gun case) in his grip.

"Logan! Oh my god! Patton is in the river! Logan, he's drowning! Oh my god, he's drowning!" Roman cried, desperately praying for his struggling friend below. Logan kept his eyes on the horizon, focusing to keep the plane steady, but his heart filled with dread as Roman described the events happening below.

Roman watched as Virgil dived into the water, gasping as he did so.

"Virgil is in the river! Oh my god, oh my god..." Roman muttered as he watched Virgil dive below the swirling white foam of the river, before he surfaced, dragging Patton's limp form to the shore.

Virgil drug Patton's limp form out of the water, struggling with the box clutched in his grip, before wrenching the flare gun box from his grasp, throwing the lid open and pulling out the gun, firing the flare and then throwing it to the side, turning back to Patton and pressing his hands to Patton's chest, desperately trying to revive him.

"Logan... Patton... Patton is just lying there..." Roman raised his hands to cover his mouth. "Oh my god..."

《◇》

Virgil heard the helicopter touching down behind him, the rotors creating an intense gust of wind that ruffled his hair and caused his clothes to whip around him.

As Virgil performed a rescue breath on Patton, he heard feet pounding the dirt behind him before he was torn away from his motionless friend, a person wearing a neon jacket with the word 'Civil Air Patrol Paramedic' embroidered across the back. Virgil struggled desperately, trying to reach his friend.

"Hey, hey hey! Calm down son, we're going to get both of you out of here." Virgil relaxed as the Paramedic gripping his arms spoke. Virgil turned, but kept an eye on Patton as the paramedics loaded him onto a stretcher, one strapping a machine to his face before he was pulled away, being led to another stretcher and being sat down on it. "Okay kid, looks like ya hurt your leg out here. Just stay still and let me secure you to this stretcher here, and then we'll load you into the helicopter and be on our way.

Virgil nodded distractedly, craning his head to try to catch a glimpse of his friend. Before he could see how Patton was doing, he felt his stretcher jolt before he was lifted into the air, being carried to the helicopter and loaded into it, the Paramedic from before sitting next to him, laying a blanket over his shivering and damp body, before attaching a mask over his face, looking him in the eyes, patting his arm gently.

"Alright kiddo, just count back from ten for me alright? We're gonna put you under for the helicopter ride back to the hospital. Just back from ten, you can do it."

"Ten... Nine... Seven.." Virgil felt his eyelids dip, but he forced them back open. "S...six...five..." Virgil couldn't hold on to his consciousness any longer, letting his eyes slip close with a final whisper.

"Four..."

《◇》


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See if you can guess why I chose the last names that I did for the sides! :3 BTW all the sides (except Patton who's one year older) were born on 1996. :)
> 
> Welcome to the final chapter of Flying Hugh Through Blue Skies, the first installment in the Aviation AU.
> 
> Please read the ending Authors Note ~

《◇》

Virgil slowly opened his eyes, seeing the ceiling tiles of what he presumed to be a hospital room, and as he turned his head to rest his cheek on the fluffy white pillow, he saw Roman sitting beside his bedside, eyes directed toward his phone, where he was texting someone.

"Guys…" Virgil murmured, wincing at the hoarseness of his voice while attempting to raise his head from the pillow it was resting it but was lacking the strength. "What happened..? Is...Is Patton okay?"

Virgil watched confused, as Roman's face crumpled, the man letting out a choked sob and burying his head in his arms.

Virgil turned to Logan, a questioning look in his eyes. "Logan…?" Virgil quietly rasped.

"Virgil...I'm sorry." Logan rested his hand on Virgil's lap.

"Wh...why..?" Virgil questioned.

Logan's eyes fell to Virgil's hand, avoiding his questioning gaze.

"Virgil… Patton…" Logan gulped, a quiver in his voice. "Patton didn't…"

"N...no.." Virgil realized what Logan was beginning to say.

"Patton didn't make it Virgil." Logan sighed, eyes beginning to water. "He's...He's gone." A tear made it's way down his cheek, dropping to land on the blanket Virgil was lying under, creating a small wet area, the physical representation of how emotionally impacted Logan was.

Logan never cried. Virgil had never seen Logan cry, even when his beloved cat died. Even at Logan's mother funeral, who we had loved dearly.

He had always been stoic, the strong rock in their friendship that kept the current of emotion from sweeping them away.

If Logan was crying…

That had to mean that…

This wasn't a joke.

This was real.

Patton's... death... was real.

"H...how..?" Virgil rasped. Roman lifted his head from his hands, revealing tear stained cheeks and watery red eyes.

"He was alive when you both arrived at this hospital, thanks to you performing CPR after getting him out of the water. But he had swallowed too much water and spent too long without air to his brain… he... he never restarted breathing." Roman paused, reaching for a tissue and wiping his eyes before continuing. "By the time the helicopter set down here and he was rushed into surgery… he was essentially brain dead and…" Roman choked back a sob, raising a hand to furiously wipe away the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes. "He was… the doctors... lost him... permanently not long after."

Virgil looked at the ceiling, feeling numb.

This couldn't be real.

It can't be. Patton.

Patton's smiles, his grins that were full of joy.

Gone.

The cookies and cakes Patton would bake when one of his friends was sad and would present the sugary treat with a beaming smile and often a comforting dad joke.

Gone.

There...there would be no more dad jokes… no more sugary sweets and comforting hugs and nicknames that Virgil pretended to dislike but secretly loved.

All of that, gone.

If this was real… If Patton was gone... Forever?

Virgil didn't know if he would be happy again… ever.

Virgil raised his arms, resting his hands over his eyes, ignoring the inquiries from Logan and Roman of whether or not he was alright.

He wasn't alright.

He would never be alright.

Ever.

《◇》

Roman reached across the bedside where their stricken friend was lying, fast asleep, taking ahold of Logan's trembling hand.

"Logan..." Roman sighed. "The funeral is in a week. And I regret to say it but... we can't just sit around and mope for a week. We..."

"Roman." Logan snapped his hand out of Roman's grasp, pulling it to his chest, directing a fiery gaze at the male across from him. "Are you trying to say that we should just.. what, 'get over' our Best Friend's death?" Logan stood from his seat, towering over Virgil's bed and Roman.

"Logan..." Roman whispered. "That's not what.."

"You know what? I.. I can't deal with this right now." Logan made his way to the door, opening it, and turning to say one last thing. "I'll be back.. later. But know that I'll be visiting for Virgil, not you." Logan leveled a dirty glare at the huddled man.

As Logan left the room, Roman buried his head in his hands.

"That's... I didn't mean it like that." Roman whispered, eyes tearing up, hands curling into fists as he gripped his hair, angered at himself for how he was always messing everything up, even his relationship with Logan. The funeral was in seven days, Roman vowed he would fix his mistakes in that time.

His friends needed him. He couldn't just push them away.

He needed to fix this.

《◇》

Weltschmerz." A dull voice echoed around the silent hospital room.

"What was that Virgil?" Roman asked, looking up from the chair that he was seated on next to Virgil's hospital bed.

"Virgil... 'weltschmerz' is the sadness caused by comparing how the world actually is against how we feel it should be..." Logan stood, pacing over to Virgil's hospital bed. "Virgil.. you couldn't have changed the outcome of what happened."

"I should've chased after him sooner. I should've been the one to go into the river. I should've fallen off the tree." Virgil muttered, pulling his legs up to his chest and resting his weary head against his knees. "This is all my fault. I wanted to go flying. I crashed the plane. I injured my leg. I got a fever and wandered off into the forest. I dropped the flare gun in the river. I FU ING GOT PATTON KILLED. I'M THE REASON WE'RE GOING TO A GOD DAMN FUNERAL TOMORROW. IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" Virgil yelled the last part, head raising to look at Logan and Roman, showing tears streaming down his anguished face, eyes red and watering.

Roman slowly sat on the edge of the bed beside Virgil, pulling him gently and carefully into an embrace, resting Virgil's head on his shoulder, and enveloping his friend in a warm and secure hug.

As Virgil's hysterical tears slowed, Roman felt the bed dip as Logan sat next to Virgil on his other side, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Roman met Logan's eyes, both sadly glancing at their trembling friend, before Roman buried his head into Virgil's shoulder, shaking violently. Roman felt Logan wrap his arms around Virgil and him and leaned into the strong embrace.

"Weltschmerz..." Logan muttered. "There's no way we can change the past but... we can fantasize." Logan sighed, but shook his head, banishing those thoughts.

At the turn of the hour, a female nurse stepped in to check on her patient. Upon seeing the two men, arms wrapped around each other in a desperate embrace and another man giving her a careful glance, a protective look clear in his eyes as his arms tightened around the other two stricken males, all three men with fresh tear tracks down their cheeks and red eyes, the nurse stepped back, giving a sad smile and a nod to the watchful man, before closing the door quietly.

The nurse walked down the hall to head to her next patient, heart heavy. She had heard of what happened to those three. One of them had been lost for two weeks or sometime in the forest with their other friend after a plane crash, and when rescuers arrived at the hospital with them... there was only one alive. The nurse sighed. It was a real tragedy.

《◇》

Virgil stood from his seat, Logan and Roman close to him in case his leg decided to give up on him at any time.

In front of them lay a coffin.

Patton's coffin.

Their best friends coffin.

Virgil sniffed and rose a hand to swipe desperately at the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes.

Virgil had held it together through the service, but now that everyone had left and it was just Virgil, Roman and Logan.

And... Patton.

The beautiful dark oak coffin was open. Inside was Patton. Contradictory to his final moments Patton looked almost...

"He looks so peaceful..." Roman muttered stepping forward to rest a hand on the coffin. "I...I can't believe it..." Roman sniffled, Logan stepping forward to gently grasp his hand and comfort him.

Virgil stood next to the coffin, feeling a tear trail down his cheek.

"Patton... I-I'm sorry. I couldn't save you... you promised me that we'd make it out together. Alive. You promised me that you'd help me fix up the Cessna. You... you promised that...that you'd live..." Virgil turned, seeing his two other friends giving him a worried glance, and then turned and dashed out the door, fleeing the funeral home, tears pouring from his eyes.

Logan and Roman glanced at each other, before turning to chase after their distressed friend.

《◇》

Logan and Roman located Virgil sitting on a bench underneath a willow, legs pulled up to his chest, hands covering his face as he sobbed desperately.

"...Virgil?" Roman creeper toward the distressed man as one would do for a skittish animal, not making direct eye contact, not moving directly toward them, making himself look smaller... he was trying to keep Virgil calm.

"R-" Virgil sniffed and hiccuped "Roman?"

"Hey man... can we sit with you?" Roman gently reached out, resting his hand next to Virgil's leg on the bench.

Virgil nodded, letting Roman and Logan sit next to him, hugging his arms tightly around himself.

"I just can't... I didn't want to believe that he was actually gone." Virgil choked, raising an arm to swipe at the tears that were streaming down his face. "Sorry, I'm such a mess."

Without making a sound, Roman and Logan reached around Virgil, enveloping him in their arms.

"We'll... we'll get through this buddy. For..." Roman smiled, a sad emotional smile, "...For Patton."

《◇》

The graveyards Ground Keeper rose from his position on his knees, wiping his grimy hands on his even dirtier overalls. The man turned from the new sapling he had just planted and saw in the distance, a man run out of the funeral home, collapsing on a bench below the willow and burying his head in his hands, looking to be shaking violently.

Before then man could make a move to go comfort him, two other men ran out of the Funeral home and approached the distressed man, talking to him and slowly sitting next to him, before enveloping him in a hug.

The Grounds Keeper turned back to his job, picking up his shovel and heading to the next spot where he was supposed to plant the saplings, but his mind remained on the three men.

That's what was hard about this job, not seeing the countless hearses, bodies, and multiple funerals that happened daily, no.

It was the survivors. The family members, the friends, the surviving spouse or girlfriend. The ones with the heart-wrenching anguish clear to see on their faces.

《◇》

Life for the three friends never returned to the same way as it was before the 'Incident.'

Virgil suffered frequent panic attacks, determined by his therapist to be PTSD from the traumatic event.

This caused Virgil to never pick up the love of flight again. Logan and Patton arranged to collect his items from the clearing where he and Patton had stayed, and they pulled the Cessna out of the lake, but Virgil refused to even look at it, much less consider flying it again. Logan and Roman considered throwing it out, but they decided to keep the crumpled mess of metal and parts in the back of their hangar, working on it slowly, straightening out the crushed pieces of metal, fixing or replacing the instruments one by one. If anything, they would sell the finished fixed plane, but Roman and Logan knew that was a fantasy. They would never sell Patton's beloved plane.

《◇》

When the small flight school that let the friends use their runways, (As Logan and Patton had occasionally instructed flight) the members of the flight school, staff and students, were devastated.

The kind man with the interesting fashion style of a cardigan tied around his neck, who always had a 'so-bad-it's-funny dad-joke' prepared, or a comforting arm and light smile for those who were worried about a first flight, or a test. No matter what, the man had always offered a positive angle of the world.

The flight school had held a donation fest, where they offered free tours and short flights, just asking that participants donated to the fund that was being saved to create a memorial.

Virgil wasn't feeling up to visiting the memorials unveiling, but Roman and Logan visited and the statue was one that Patton would have loved...

A huge life-sized Cessna statue, with another statue of Patton, his likeness, down to the smile and kindness evident in his eyes, all captured by a single statue, Patton leaning against the wing supports of the plane, A dog clutched in his arms, A cat resting on its stomach by his feet.

Patton would've loved it...

The flight school placed it in front of their building, to the direct right of their front doors, with a plaque embedded in it, reading.

Patton Genus,

1995-2018

A beloved instructor and member of this Flight School, who tragically drowned at the age of 23 by drowning after surviving two weeks in the harsh Canadian forest after his plane, with him and his friend Virgil Cupiens, crashed into a lake.

We extend a thanks to everyone who. donated to make this memorial a reality.

"Death is the last chapter in time, but the first chapter in Eternity."

May he rest in peace and be in our hearts forever. We lost a supportive and amazing friend, and heaven has gained it's best angel.

~Calgary Flight Training Center.

《◇》

The End.

《◇》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! Poor Patton :(
> 
> If I end up writing the cliché "everyone was saved and they're A-okay" ending, there are going to be two universes I'll refer to if I write in the Aviation AU again (Edit: I did write it :] )
> 
> The Aviation Tragedy AU, where regrettably the lovely Patton met his end, leaving a heavy mental toll on Virgil and his other two friends.
> 
> The Aviation AU, where happier things happen! :)
> 
> With that over...
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who commented, followed, or just read the story!
> 
> Thank you so so so much. I had so much fun writing this, and I hope to write more in this universe if you guys would want to see more.
> 
> \- Ren


	11. Cliché Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> !Read Chapter 11 First!
> 
> The cliché ending chapters at going to be shorter than usual, but I split them up because cliffhangers ya know? Part two should be out really really soon though (possibly today :) )
> 
> Hello! Since I feared that the people who were emotionally stricken by the Tragedy AU ending would hunt down my location and attack me for breaking their hearts, I have decided to write a happy ending for dear ol Patton! ^~^
> 
> Jk, jk haha.
> 
> But still, I want to make people happy, and that requires a living breathing happy pappy Patton!
> 
> With that over, let us go!

《◇》

Virgil laid his (now soaking) Hoodie on the tree log where Patton's drying items were also drying, before picking up the flare gun box that Patton had decided to leave with his collection of drying clothes, picking it up and deciding to carry it with him as he wandered over to the bank of the swiftly flowing river, stepping into the chilling waters and watching as the flow of the river diverted around his ankles.

As the cool water touched his skin, Virgil shivered, wishing it was a little bit warmer. Virgil was just left in his boxers and his grimy undershirt as his recently 'cleaned' clothes dried in the bright sunlight, and Patton had dressed in the spare set of clothes that were supplied in the B.O.B, a pair of jeans that he rolled up to his knees and a plain white shirt, allowing him to wash all of his clothes instead of just the top layer like Virgil was doing (it was warm but Virgil wasn't particularly up to going commando especially in the river water, who knows what could be in it. He'd rather just deal with the slightly grimy underclothes he was wearing then risk getting a weird infection or a creature biting him. Patton was wading in the shallows as Virgil wandered in the shallow water along the bank, making sure to keep the flare gun case tightly gripped in his hand as he inspected their beautiful surroundings.

Virgil was entranced by the sounds of the river and the surrounding nature that he barely registered Patton calling to him.

"...Irgil! Virgil!"

"What? Patton, what's up?" Virgil swiveled and turned to see Patton (who had abandoned the activity of wading through the river and was currently sitting atop a narrow tree about fifteen feet or so away from Virgil that had fallen and currently lay over the river, a few feet above the swirling currents of the swiftly flowing middle of the river.

Patton had his legs dangling off the edge, and he was pointing upward at the clear sky.

"Virgil! Do you hear that?" Patton cried gesturing toward the sky.

Virgil listened for a few moments, before realizing what Patton was talking about.

The distant hum of a helicopter, growing steadily closer.

"Patton! There's a helicopter!" Virgil cried, jumping to the shore, slipping on the uneven surface of the slippery rocks and falling. Virgil felt a jolt of pain as his injured leg scraped against sharp rocks, but he still bounded up, ignoring the throbbing pain as he raced towards Patton.

"Virgil! Oh my god!" Patton's hand raised to cover his mouth, as he pointed above. Virgil saw the helicopter in the distance and following it was a plane... It was a...

A Viking.

"Patton! That's Logan and Roman! It has to be! Oh my god!" Virgil felt a smile break through his face. As Virgil struggled with the locking mechanisms on the Flare Guns case, Patton stood shakily on the narrow tree and began making his way back across the river and to Virgil, and before Virgil could warn him to be careful, Patton shook, a leg slipping off the tree trunk, his entire body jolting to the right before starting to plummet towards the swirling water below.

And then he plunged off the branch, and as Virgil cried out in shock, Patton's hand shot out, grasping onto the slippery surface of the tree trunk, scrabbling desperately for any grip that his hands could reach.

"Patton!" Virgil cried. "Hang on! I'm coming!" Virgil started towards Patton before a shout from his friend stopped him.

"No! The flare gun! Shoot th-" Patton was cut off as the thin branch his right hand was gripping snapped, sending all of his body weight to pull at his left arm, which was desperately dogging into a small hole, likely from a bird or squirrel, that was in the side of the tree.

Virgil gulped, looking from his friend to the bright orange case clutched in his hand.

Virgil steeled himself, before making his choice.

"I'm sorry Patton."

《◇》


	12. Cliche Ending Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ending! :)

《◇》

Virgil steeled himself, before making his choice.

"I'm sorry Patton." Virgil proceeded to throw the flare gun aside. "But I can't do that," Virgil stated, before rushing forward, going onto his hands and knees as he dug his nails into the bark of the tree, carefully inching along the wood as he neared Patton.

"Virgil! No!" Patton cried, face contorting with shock, and then anger. "Virgil! I told you to get the flare gun! You're going to get both of us killed!"

Virgil shook his head as he carefully reached Patton, reaching down and grasping his wrist.

"Patton if you died it wouldn't matter if I fired off the flare gun. Because I'd die too." Virgil smiled sadly at his friend. "I wouldn't survive without you, Pat."

With that, Virgil stretched his leg behind him, hooking it under a branch protruding from the log as he flattened himself along the top of the log, using the branch as an anchor while he used his arms to reach down to grasp both of Patton's wrists, hauling him up until Patton was able to find footing, using his feet to scramble up and onto the top of the tree trunk, hunkering down next to Virgil.

"T-thanks..." Patton whispered, wincing as he wiped his bloodied and raw hands against his legs. "Let's get back to shore... maybe it's not too late to fire off the flare gun. Maybe,"

"Patton." Virgil raised his hand, queuing Patton to fall silent. "I don't think we'll need the flare gun."

As Virgil pointed to the skies, a shadow fell over the duo and the deafening sound of the helicopter filled Patton and Virgil's ears.

Virgil, with his leg still hooked under the branch, pulled Patton close to him, holding the pair close to the log as the wind from the helicopter pushed at the pair, rustling their hair and pulling at their clothes.

This was it.

"We're saved."

《◇》

Roman heard the crackle of the radio through his headset before the low tone of the helicopters search team's pilot came over the comm.

"We have a visual on two men matching the description. Forward and to the right, please confirm. Over."

Roman jolted up, pressing his hand to the glass and looking out. His eyes scanned the horizon before he saw two forms near a river, one standing next to a tree log laying over the river, fumbling with an orange box, and the other pointing to the sky while scrambling to stand up from the log.

It was them.

"Search team, it's them! Set down, we'll circle above while you rescue. Over." Roman couldn't believe it.

"Roger. We'll loop around the clearing to determine the best place to set down, then we'll get your friends out of there. Over." The radio crackled, then went silent.

Roman sighed in relief, turning to Logan. He turned to speak to Logan, whose knuckles were clutching the yoke, knuckles bone white.

"Lo-"

"Hey! One of the men has fallen! Repeat- one of the men has fallen and is hanging off the log! That river doesn't look like an easy swim, we'll prepare our paramedics for CPR! Over!"

Roman whipped back to the window, gasping as he looked below. One man, who Roman determined to be Patton was hanging off the tree trunk, legs swinging as his body twisted above the pounding rapids.

Roman watched as Virgil threw the orange box to the side, before clamoring onto the log, carefully approaching Patton.

"Patton is about to fall in the river! Oh my god, oh my god..." Roman muttered as he watched Virgil kneel down above Patton, hooking a leg beneath a branch and reaching forward to grasp Patton's wrist, and speaking to him. After a few seconds, Virgil reached forward and got a hold of Patton's other arm, pulling him up and onto the log, getting him safely away from the edge.

"Logan... Patton... Patton is safe, Virgil got him up and onto the log. The Helicopter is landing... we're gonna get them out of there..." Roman raised his hands to cover his mouth as he grinned, tears spilling from his eyes. "Oh my god... they're gonna be alright."

《◇》

Virgil heard the helicopter touching down behind him, the rotors creating an intense gust of wind that ruffled his hair and caused his clothes to whip around him.

As Virgil heard the rotors slowing, he uncurled from Patton, turning to look at their rescuers.

As Virgil and Patton began to inch their way along the log back to solid ground, people spilled from the helicopter, making their way towards the pair.

"Patton Genus and Virgil Cupiens?" One man asked as Virgil stepped foot on the rocky bank, Patton stepping down behind him.

"Y..yes. yes, that's us." Virgil stammered ad he answered. "Oh my god, we're being rescued. Thank you." Virgil felt tears spill from his eyes. "Thank you."

The man smiled, before motioning a few other people forward, who Virgil presumed to be paramedics.

"Since you two have been out here for two weeks, we have deemed it in your best interests to go straight to the hospital. Do you two have any severe injuries we should know about?"

"Um yes." Virgil answered. "I injured my leg when we first crashed, two or so weeks ago."

"And he got a pretty bad fever a week ago." Patton piped up from beside Virgil.

The man nodded. "Alright. We're gonna get you on these stretchers, alright? Once you get to the hospital you can see your other two friends and talk to any family you need to." With that, the other paramedics stepped forward, setting the stretchers they carried on the ground, and leading Virgil and Patton to them.

As a paramedic secured his leg Virgil felt Patton reach over, grabbing his hand and squeezing it, and as Virgil looked over Patton offered him a comforting smile.

Virgil smiled back before the man from before got his attention.

"Alright. We're going to put you under for the transit to the hospital, but before we do that I thought you may like to speak to your friends that fly the other plane." The man extended his hand, and in it, a handheld radio.

Virgil took it with shaking hands, before clearing his throat.

《◇》

"R..Roman? Logan?"

Roman shot up as a shaky voice sounded over the radio, which had been silent as they circled over the helicopters landing site.

"Virgil?!" Roman cried. "Oh my god, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Yeah..." Virgil fell silent, and then Patton's voice came through their headsets.

"Hey guys!" Patton sounded happy, even with the traumatic events that had happened to him. "I've missed you!"

"We've missed you too Patton..." Logan replied. "Just focus on getting you and Virgil out of there, alright?"

"Roger. I think we're leaving soon anyway." Patton sighed, sadness filling his previously joyous tone. "Goodbye for now..."

"Goodbye Patton.." Roman heard the click of the radio being shut off and sighed.

"Roman if we are to meet them at the hospital we need to leave now so we can land at the airport and drive to the hospital." Logan's voice interrupted Roman's thoughts.

"Alright... let's go."

《◇》

"Alright Virgil, just count back from ten for me alright? We're gonna put you and Patton under for the helicopter ride back to the hospital. Just back from ten, you can do it." A female paramedic spoke softly to Virgil as she gently tightened a mask over his mouth and nose.

"Okay... Ten... Nine...Eight... Seven.." Virgil felt his eyelids dip, but he forced them back open. "S...six...five..." Virgil couldn't hold on to his consciousness any longer, letting his eyes slip close with a final whisper.

"Four..."

《◇》

1 Month Later

《◇》

"Come on slowpokes!"

Virgil laughed as Patton raced ahead, bounding past nurses and doctors as he jogged down the hospital hallway.

"Sorry Patton! I can't hurry as I have to push Virgil's wheelchair!" Roman laughed, before leaning down to whisper in Virgil's ear. "Unless you want to race, I could totally make this thing get some serious speeds."

"Roman." Logan crossed his arms as he walked beside them. "No."

"Awe come on! I'm sure Virge would love it!" Roman whined.

"Yeah I just spent a month in the hospital because my leg got infected and almost had to be amputated, I'd really rather not have to go back before I even get out the doors because I broke my face slamming into a wall or something." Virgil laughed.

Roman pouted as he turned Virgil's wheelchair into the elevator where Patton was ready waiting, Logan stepping in behind them and pressing the lobby button.

As the group stepped out into the lobby, Patton and Virgil felt smiles break out on their faces.

Virgil had been bedridden for the past month, and Patton had refused to leave the hospital without him, making this their first trip into the 'outside world' since their rescue.

As the sliding glass doors opened before the friends and they stepped out into the parking lot, Patton grinned with glee as the sunlight beamed down on his face, and he reached over to Virgil, interlocking their fingers as Roman pushed his wheelchair, the trio following Logan as he directed them to the van.

Virgil looked up at the faces of his friends, before smiling.

It may have been a traumatic situation that happened to them, but they were alright.

They made it out.

Alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 《◇》
> 
> The End.
> 
> 《◇》
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed this series!
> 
> If you would like to read another AU by me, head on over to 'Do Not Fear The Dark', an Angel/Demon AU that currently has six chapters with more on the way!
> 
> Thanks for reading and reviewing!
> 
> \- Ren


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